Friday, September 14, 2007

My Autumn Apetite

It seems autumn is right around the corner - or upon us. (It has dipped into the 40s a couple of times here in Illinois. But, it's still up in the 80s most days.)

And, with the arrival of fall comes many memories. Most of those memories surround food. Food which is delicious. Food which reminds me of family and friends and football games and marching band competitions and fall festivals. Spiced apple cider. Funnel cakes. Corn dogs. Hot chocolate. Caramel apples. Pumpkin bread. Fried onion rings. Caramel kettle corn. In other words, Food = sugar and carbs = not good for me. Especially not now. (I think I made a post exactly like this last fall. Oh well!)

But, I will sit and daydream about those delicious treats - while gnawing on my ever-so-appetizing strips of green pepper, slices of cucumber, bowl of leafy greens and my-package-makes-your-hopes-too-high-by-stating-I'm-honey-roasted turkey slices. Daydreaming about all of the food that is ready to come out from hiding and devising a fool-proof way to avoid their taunts and claims of "I won't hurt you!" during the upcoming Spoon River Drive trip. It's the Spoon River Drive that always gets me into trouble! So, I must become prepared to be prepared even now - a month away.

Even though I can't partake, I thought you might want to enjoy some fun caramel corn if you don't have a Spoon River Drive-ish festival around you. Microwave Caramel Corn, in fact. It's great to make with kids, but you have to supervise because nothing screams trouble like piping hot caramel! (That is unless someone actually has the piping hot caramel on his/her skin!) The hardest part for me always is finding the necessary paper bag, so that's your homework assignment. If you like it, let me know. Oh! And, you might want to think ahead to pick a song with a good beat. Each time you read "shake thoroughly" in the recipe, it's a great time for a dance break. Enjoy!

Microwave Caramel Corn
6 qts. popped corn (the conventional kind or even microwave style)
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c butter or margarine
1/4 c light syrup
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t vanilla

Mix sugar, butter and syrup in a bowl. Microwave on high for 4 minutes (stirring at 2 min and 4 min marks.) Add vanilla and soda. Stir well. Dump popped popcorn into a large paper bag. Pour syrup mixture over corn in the paper bag. Roll down the top of the bag a couple of times leaving room for the popcorn to move around. Microwave 1 and 1/2 minutes. Shake thoroughly. (Boogie time!) Microwave additional 1 and 1/2 minutes. Shake thoroughly. Microwave 45 seconds. Shake thoroughly. Microwave 30 seconds. Shake thoroughly one last time. Pour popcorn into a bowl and eat and eat and eat! Make another batch, play around with the ingredients, and eat even more!

4 comments:

Jeremy Sarber said...

As much as I can share your enthusiasm (have the co-workers check the spelling on that) for the food of fall, I cannot find anything I like about the coming of fall. There are some amazing sights and beautiful scenery in the fall, but once the temperature drops below room temperature, I don't even care to go outside and look at them. I know I sound like a baby but it's in my blood.

Dani said...

I LOVE everything bout fall! Have you seen Fa-so-la-la's post about fall on the beehive?

I think I may suprise Gary with this tomorrow night. He LOVES caramel!

strem said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
strem said...

Jsarber, maybe it is your southern heritage. But, many of my ancestors were settled in Pennsylvania for quite some time... so we've been loving autumn (and winter) for generations. We'll have to help you work on this. (P.S. The co-workers have given you the 'thumbs up' for enthusiasm.) :)

Dani, did you make some? I loved fa's post about autumn. Makes me want to go put on a sweater, but I think I'll wait until the temps drop again. I think we'll be up in the 80s and 90s again for the rest of the week.